THE PAKISTAN CITIZENSHIP ACT, 1951

CONTENTS
1. Short title, and commencement
2. Definitions
3. Citizenship at the date of commencement of this Act
4. Citizenship by birth
5. Citizenship by descent
6. Citizenship by migration
7. Persons migrating from the territories of Pakistan
8. Rights of citizenship of certain persons residing abroad
9. Citizenship by naturalisation
10. Married women
11. Registration of minors
12. Citizenship by registration to begin on date of registration
13. Citizenship by incorporation of territory
14. Dual citizenship or nationality not permitted
14 A. Renunciation of citizenship
14 B. Certain persons to be citizens of Pakistan
15. Persons becoming citizens to have the status of Commonwealth citizens
16. Deprivation of citizenship
16 A. Certain persons to lose and others to retain citizenship
17. Certificate of domicile
18. Delegation of powers
19. Cases of doubt as to citizenship
20. Acquisition of Pakistan citizenship by citizens of commonwealth countries
21. Penalties
22. Interpretation
23. Rules
SCHEDULE

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 THE PAKISTAN CITIZENSHIP ACT, 1951
1
ACT NO. II of 1951
[13 April, 1951]
An Act to provide for Pakistan citizenship
WHEREAS it is expedient to make provision for citizenship of Pakistan ;
It is hereby enacted as follows :___

1. Short title, and commencement.___ (1) This Act may be called the Pakistan Citizenship
Act, 1951.

(2) It shall come into force at once.

2. Definitions. In this Act___
“alien” means a person who is not a citizen of Pakistan or a Commonwealth citizen ;
“Indo-Pakistan sub-continent” means India as defined2 in the Government of India Act, 1935
(26 Geo.5, c.2.), as originally enacted ;
“minor” means, notwithstanding anything in the Majority Act, 1875 (IX of 1875), any person
who has not completed the age of twenty-one years ;
“prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act ; 3*

[“Commonwealth citizen” means a person who has the status of a Commonwealth citizen
4

under the 5British Nationality Act, 1948 (11 & 12, Geo.6, c.56.)

“British protected person” means a person who has the status of a British protected person for
the 6purposes of the British Nationality Act, 1948. (11 & 12.Geo.c.56)].
1
This Act shall, during the continuance of the Defence of Pakistan Ordinance, 1971 (XXX of 1971), have effect subject to the provision of section 7 (4)
of that Ordinance.
For Statement of Objects and Reasons, see Gazette of Pakistan, 1951, Pt. V, pp. 45-46.
It has also been brought into force in Baluchistan with effect on and from the 13th day of April, 1951, see Gazette of Pakistan, 1952, Pt. I, p. 218;
applied in the Federated Areas of Baluchistan, see ibid., 1953, Pt. I, p. 152; extended to the Leased Areas of Baluchistan by the Leased Areas (Laws)
Order, 1950 (G.G.O. 3 of 1950); extended to the Khairpur State by the Khairpur (Federal Laws) (Extension) Order, 1953 (G.G.O. 5 of 1953); extended
to the Baluchistan States Union by the Baluchistan States Union (Federal Laws) (Extension) Order, 1953 (G.G.O. 4 of 1953) ; extended to the State of
Bahawalpur by the Bahawalpur (Extension of Federal Laws) Order, 1953 (G.G.O. 11 of 1953), as amended; and also brought in to force in Gwadur
with effect from the 8th September, 1958, by the Gwadur (Application for Central Laws) Ordinance, 1960 (37 of 1960), s. 2.
2
Section 311 (1) which read as follows :—
“’India’ means British India together with all territories of any Indian Ruler under the suzerainty of His Majesty, all territories under the suzerainty of
such an Indian Ruler, the tribal areas, and any other territories which His Majesty in Council may, from time to time, after ascertaining the views of the
Federal Government and the Federal Legislature, declare to be part of India.”
3
The word “and” omitted by the Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1952 (5 of 1952), s. 2.
4
Subs. ibid., for the original definition of “Commonwealth citizen”.
5
Section 1 which read as follows:___
“1.___ (1) Every person who under this Act is a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies or who under any enactment for the time being in force in
any country mentioned in sub-section (3) of this section is a citizen of that country shall by virtue of that citizenship have the status of a British subject.
(2) Any person having the status aforesaid may be known either as a British subject or as a Commonwealth citizen ; and accordingly in this Act and in
any other enactment or instrument whatever, whether passed or made before or after the commencement of this Act, the expression “British subject”
and the expression “Commonwealth citizen” shall have the same meaning.
(3) The following are the countries herein before referred to, that is to say Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, Newfoundland,
India, Pakistan, Southern Rhodesia and Ceylon.”.
6
“British protected person” means a person who is a member of a class of persons declared by Order in Council made in relation to any protectorate
protected state, mandated territory or trust territory to be for the purposes of this Act British protected persons by virtue of their connection with that
protectorate, state or territory : ” .

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 3. Citizenship at the date of commencement of this Act. At the commencement of this Act
every person shall be deemed to be a citizen of Pakistan____

(a) who or any of whose parents or grand parents was born in the territory now
included in Pakistan and who after the fourteenth day of August, 1947, has not
been permanently resident in any country outside Pakistan ; or

(b) who or any of whose parents or grandparents was born in the territories
included in India on the thirty first day of March, 1937, 1[and who, except in
the case of a person who was in the service of Pakistan or of any Government
or Administration in Pakistan at the commencement of this Act, has] or had
his domicile within the meaning of Part II of the Succession Act, 1925
(XXXIX of 1925), as in force at the commencement of this Act, in Pakistan or
in the territories now included in Pakistan ; or

(c) who is a person naturalised as a British subject in Pakistan ; and who, if before
the date of the commencement of this Act he has acquired the citizenship of
any foreign State, has before that date renounced the same by depositing a
declaration in writing to that effect with an authority appointed or empowered
to receive it ; 2[or]
2
[(d) who before the commencement of this Act migrated to the territories now
included in Pakistan from any territory in the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent
outside those territories with the intention of residing permanently in those
territories.]
3
* * * * * * *

4. Citizenship by birth. Every person born in Pakistan after the commencement of this Act
shall be a citizen of Pakistan by birth :

Provided that a person shall not be such a citizen by virtue of this section if at the time of his
___
birth

(a) his father possesses such immunity from suit and legal process as is accorded
to an envoy of an external sovereign power accredited in Pakistan and is not a
citizen of Pakistan; or

(b) his father is an enemy alien and the birth occurs in a place then under
occupation by the enemy.

1
Subs. by the Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1952 (V of 1952), s. 3, for “and has”.
2
The word “or” and clause (d) ins., ibid.
3
Proviso omitted, ibid.

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 5. Citizenship by descent.___ Subject to the provisions of section 3 a person born after the
commencement of this Act, shall be a citizen of Pakistan by descent if his 1[Parent] is a citizen of
Pakistan at the time of his birth :
Provided that if the 1[Parent] of such person is a citizen of Pakistan by descent only, that
person shall not be a citizen of Pakistan by virtue of this section unless___
(a) that person’s birth having occurred in a country outside Pakistan the birth is
registered at a Pakistan Consulate or Mission in that country, or where there is
no Pakistan Consulate or Mission in that country 2[at the prescribed Consulate
or Mission or] at a Pakistan Consulate or Mission in the country nearest to that
country; or
(b) that person’s 1[Parent] is, at the time of the birth, in the service of any
Government in Pakistan.
6. Citizenship by migration.___ (1) The 3[Federal Government] may, upon his obtaining a
certificate of domicile under this Act, register as a citizen of Pakistan by migration any person who
4
[after the commencement of this Act and before the first day of January, 1952, has migrated] to the
territories now included in Pakistan from any territory in the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent outside
those territories, with the intention of residing permanently in those territories :
Provided that the 3[Federal Government] may, by general or special order, exempt any person
or class5 of persons from obtaining a certificate of domicile required under this sub-section.
(2) Registration granted under the preceding sub-section shall include, besides the person
himself, his wife, if any, unless his marriage with her has been dissolved, and any minor child of his
dependant whether wholly or partially upon him.

7. Persons migrating from the territories of Pakistan. Notwithstanding anything in

sections 3, 4 and 6, a person who has after the first day of March, 1947, migrated from the territories
now included in Pakistan to the territories now included in India shall not be a citizen of Pakistan
under the provisions of these sections:
Provided that nothing in the section shall apply to a person who, after having so migrated to
the territories now included in India has returned to the territories now included in Pakistan under a
permit for resettlement or permanent return issued by or under the authority of any law for the time
being in force.
8. Rights of citizenship of certain persons residing abroad.___ 6[(1)] The 3[Federal
Government] may, upon application made to it in this behalf, register as a citizen of Pakistan any
person who, or whose father or whose father’s father, was born in the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent
and who is ordinarily resident in a country outside Pakistan at the commencement of this Act, if he
has, unless exempted by the 3[Federal Government] in this behalf, obtained a certificate of domicile:
Provided that a certificate of domicile shall not be required in the case of any such person
who is out of Pakistan under the protection of a Pakistan passport, or in the case of any such person
whose father or whose father’s father is at the commencement of this Act residing in Pakistan or
becomes, before the aforesaid application is made, a citizen of Pakistan.
1
Subs. by Ord. XIII of 2000, s. 2.
2
Ins. By the Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1952 (V of 1952), s. 4.
3
Subs. by the Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1973 (XLVIII of 1973), s. 3, for “Central Government”.
4
Subs. by Act V of 1952, s. 5, for “before the commencement of this Act migrated”.
5
All Government servants including optees coming from the late Government of India, shall as a class be exempt from obtaining the certificate of
domicile, see Gazette of Pakistan, 1952, Pt. I, p. 113.
6
Section 8 renumbered as sub-section (1) of that section by the Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1973 (XLVIII of 1973), s. 2.

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 1
[(2) A subject of the State of Jammu and Kashmir who, being under the protection of a
Pakistan passport, is resident in the United Kingdom or such other country as the Federal
Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, specify in this behalf, shall, without
prejudice to his rights and status as a subject of that State, be deemed to be, and always to have been,
a citizen of Pakistan.]
9. Citizenship by naturalisation. The 2[Federal Government] may, upon an application
made to it in that behalf by any person who has been granted a certificate of naturalisation under the
Naturalisation Act, 1926, register that person as a citizen of Pakistan by naturalization:
Provided that the 2[Federal Government] may register any person as a citizen of Pakistan
without his having obtained a certificate of naturalisation as aforesaid.
10. Married women.___ (1) Any woman who by reason of her marriage to a 3[British subject]
before the first day of January, 1949, has acquired the status of a 3[British subject] shall, if her
husband becomes a citizen of Pakistan, be a citizen of Pakistan.

(2) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (1) and sub-section (4) a woman who has been
married to a citizen of Pakistan or to a person who but for his death would have been a citizen of
Pakistan under sections 3, 4 or 5 shall be entitled, on making application therefor to the 2[Federal
Government] in the prescribed manner, and, if she is an alien, on obtaining a certificate of domicile
and taking the oath of allegiance in the form set out in the Schedule to this Act, to be registered as a
citizen of Pakistan whether or not she has completed twenty-one years of her age and is of full
capacity.
(3) Subject as aforesaid, a woman who has been married to a person who, but for his death,
could have been a citizen of Pakistan under the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 6 (whether he
migrated as provided in that sub-section or is deemed under the proviso to section 7 to have so
migrated) shall be entitled as provided in subsection (2) subject further, if she is an alien, to her
obtaining the certificate and taking the oath therein mentioned.
(4) A person who has ceased to be a citizen of Pakistan under section 14 or who has been
deprived of citizenship of Pakistan under this Act shall not be entitled to be registered as a citizen
thereof under this section but may be so registered with the previous consent of the 2[Federal
Government].
11. Registration of minors.___ (1) The 2[Federal Government] may, upon application to it in
this behalf made in the prescribed manner by a parent or guardian of a minor child of a citizen of
Pakistan, register the child as a citizen of Pakistan.
(2) The 2[Federal Government] may, in such circumstances as it thinks fit, register any minor
as a citizen of Pakistan.
12. Citizenship by registration to begin on date of registration. Any person registered as a
citizen of Pakistan shall be such a citizen from the date of his registration.

13. Citizenship by incorporation of territory. If any territory becomes a part of Pakistan

4
the [President] may, by order, specify the persons who shall be citizens of Pakistan by reason of
their connection with that territory; and those persons shall be citizens of Pakistan from such date
and upon such conditions, if any, as may be specified in the order.

1
Added by the Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1973 (XLVIII of 1973) s. 2.
2
Subs. ibid, s. 3, for “Central Government”.
3
Subs. by the Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1952 (V of 1952), s. 6, for “Commonwealth citizen”.
4
Subs. by A.O., 1961. Art. 2, for “Governor-General” (with effect from the 23rd March, 1956).

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 14. Dual citizenship or nationality not permitted.____ (1) Subject to the provisions of this
section if any person is a citizen of Pakistan under the provisions of this Act, and is at the same time
a citizen or national of any other country, he shall, unless 1* * * he makes a declaration according to
the laws of that other country renouncing his status as citizen or national thereof, cease to be a citizen
of Pakistan.
2
[(1A) Nothing in sub-section (1) applies to a person who has not attained twenty-one years
of his age.]

(2) Nothing in 3[sub-section (1)] shall apply to any person who is a subject of an Acceding
State so far as concerns his being a subject of that State.
4
[(3) Nothing in sub-section (1) shall apply, or shall be deemed ever to have applied at any
stage, to a person who, being or having at any time been, a citizen of Pakistan, is also the citizen of
the United Kingdom and Colonies or of such other country as the Federal Government may, by
notification in the official Gazette, specify in this behalf.

(4) Nothing in sub-section (1) shall apply to a female citizen of Pakistan who is married to a
person who is not a citizen of Pakistan.]
5[14A.
Renunciation of citizenship.___ (1) If any citizen of Pakistan residing outside
Pakistan, who is not a minor and___

(a) is also a citizen or national of another country, or

(b) has been given by the competent authority of another country any valid
document assuring him of the grant of the citizenship or nationality of that
other country upon renouncing his citizenship of Pakistan,
makes in the prescribed manner a declaration renouncing his citizenship of Pakistan, the declaration
shall be registered by the prescribed authority; and upon such registration that person shall cease to
be a citizen of Pakistan:
Provided that, if any such declaration is made during any war in which Pakistan may be
engaged, registration thereof shall be withheld until the Federal Government otherwise directs.
(2) Where a male person ceases to be a citizen of Pakistan under sub-section (1)___

(a) every such minor child of that person as is residing outside Pakistan shall
thereupon cease to be a citizen of Pakistan;
Provided that any such child may, within one year of his completing the age of
twenty-one years, make a declaration that he wishes to resume the citizenship
of Pakistan and shall upon the making of such declaration become a citizen of
Pakistan: and
(b) every such minor child of that person as is residing in Pakistan shall continue
to be a citizen of Pakistan.]
1
The words “within one year of the commencement of this Act or within six months of attaining twenty-one years of his age, whichever is later”,
omitted by the Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1952, (V of 1952), s. 7.
2
Sub-section (1A) ins., ibid.
3
Subs. ibid., for “this section”.
4
Sub-sections (3) and (4) added by the Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1972 (XVII of 1972), s. 2.
5
Section 14A ins. ibid by s. 3.

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 1
[14B. Certain persons to be citizens of Pakistan. A person who, being a subject of the
State of Jammu and Kashmir, as migrated to Pakistan with the intention of residing therein until such
time as the relationship between Pakistan and that State is finally determined shall, without prejudice
to his status as such subject, be a citizen of a Pakistan.]

15. Persons becoming citizens to have the status of Commonwealth citizens. Every person
becoming a citizen of Pakistan under this Act shall have the status of a Commonwealth citizen.

16. Deprivation of citizenship.___ (1) A citizen of Pakistan shall cease to be a citizen of

Pakistan if he is deprived of that citizenship by an order under the next following sub-sections.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this section the 2[Federal Government] may by order deprive
any such citizen of his citizenship if it is satisfied that he obtained his certificate of domicile or
certificate of naturalisation 3[under the Naturalisation Act, 1926 (VII of 1926)] by means of fraud,
false representation or the concealment of any material fact, or if his certificate of naturalisation is
revoked.

(3) Subject to the provisions of this section the 2[Federal Government] may by order deprive
any Person who is a citizen of Pakistan by naturalisation of his citizenship of Pakistan if it is satisfied
that that citizen___

(a) has shown himself by any act or speech to be disloyal or disaffected to the
Constitution of Pakistan; or

(b) has, during a war in which Pakistan is or has been engaged, unlawfully traded
or communicated with the enemy or engaged in or associated with any
business that was to his knowledge carried on in such a manner as to assist the
enemy in that war; or

(c) has within five years of being naturalised been sentenced in any country to
imprisonment for a term of not less than twelve months.

(4) The 2[Federal Government] may on an application being made or on its own motion by
order deprive any citizen of Pakistan of his citizenship if it is satisfied that he has been ordinarily
resident in a country outside Pakistan for a continuous period of seven years 3[beginning not earlier
than the commencement of this Act] and during that period has neither___
(i) been at any time in the service of any Government in Pakistan or of an
international organisation of which Pakistan has at any time during that period
been a member; nor

1
Ins. and shall be deemed to have been so ins. on the 20th day of April, 1972, by the Pakistan Citizenship (Second Amendment) Act, 1973 (XXXIX of
1973), s. 2.
2
Subs. by the Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1973 (XLVIII of 1973) s. 3, for “Central Government”.
3
Ins. by the Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1952 (V of 1952) s. 8.

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 (ii) registered annually in the prescribed manner at a Pakistan Consulate or
Mission or in a country where there is no Pakistan Consulate or Mission 1[at
the prescribed Consulate or Mission or] at a Pakistan Consulate or Mission in
a country nearest to the country of his residence his intention to retain Pakistan
citizenship.
(5) The 2[Federal Government] shall not make an order depriving a person of citizenship
under this section unless it is satisfied that it is in the public interest that that person should not
continue to be a citizen of Pakistan.
(6) Before making an order under this section the 2[Federal Government] shall give the
person against whom it is proposed to make the order notice in writing informing him of the grounds
on which it is proposed to make the order and calling upon him to show cause why it should not be
made.
(7) If it is proposed to make the order on any of the grounds specified in sub-sections (2) and
(3) of this section and the person against whom it is proposed to make the order applies in the
prescribed manner for an inquiry, the 2[Federal Government] shall, and in any other case may, refer
the case to a Committee of inquiry consisting of a chairman, being a person possessing judicial
experience, appointed by the 2[Federal Government] and of such other members appointed by the
2
[Federal Government] as it thinks proper.
3
[16A. Certain persons to lose and others to retain citizenship. ___ (1) All persons who, at
any time before the sixteenth day of December, 1971, were citizens of Pakistan domiciled in the
territories which before the said day constituted the Province of East Pakistan and who___
(i) were residing in those territories on that day and are residing therein since that
day voluntarily or otherwise shall cease to be citizens of Pakistan;

(ii) were residing in Pakistan on that day but after that day voluntarily migrated to
those territories shall cease to be citizens of Pakistan;

(iii) were residing in Pakistan on that day and are voluntarily residing therein since
that day shall continue to be citizens of Pakistan;

(iv) were residing in those territories on that day but voluntarily came to Pakistan
after that day with the approval of the Federal Government shall continue to
be citizens of Pakistan:
Provided that any persons referred to in clause (i) whose repatriation to
Pakistan has been agreed to by the Federal Government and who have not
been so repatriated before the commencement of Pakistan Citizenship
(Amendment) Ordinance, 1978, shall continue to be citizens of Pakistan.
(2) Any person who, at any time before the sixteenth day of December, 1971, was a citizen of
Pakistan domiciled in the territories which before the said day constituted the Province of East
Pakistan and who, being under the protection of a Pakistan passport, was on that day, or is, residing
in any country beyond those territories shall not be deemed to be a citizen of Pakistan unless, upon
an application made by him to the Federal Government in this behalf, the Federal Government has
granted him a certificate that at the date of the certificate he is a citizen of Pakistan.].

1
Ins. by the Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1952 (V of 1952), s. 8.
2
Subs. by the Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1973 (XLVIII of 1973), s. 3. for “Central Government”.
3
Ins. by the Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Ord., 1978 (XI of 1978), s.2.

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 17. Certificate of domicile. The 1[Federal Government] may upon an application being made
to it in the prescribed manner containing the prescribed particulars grant a certificate of domicile to
any person in respect of whom it is satisfied that he has ordinarily resided in Pakistan for a period of
not less than one year immediately before the making of the application, and has acquired a domicile
therein.

18. Delegation of powers. The 1[Federal Government] may, by 2order notified in the Official
Gazette, direct that any power conferred upon it or duty imposed on it by this Act shall, in such
circumstances, and under such conditions, if any, as may be specified in the direction, be exercised
or discharged by such authority or officer as may be specified.

19. Cases of doubt as to citizenship.___ (1) Where a person with respect to whose citizenship
a doubt exists, whether on a question of law or fact, makes application in that behalf to the 1[Federal
Government], the 1[Federal Government] may grant him a certificate that at the date of the certificate
he is a citizen of Pakistan.

(2) The certificate, unless it is proved to have been obtained by fraud, false representation or
concealment of any material fact, shall be conclusive evidence of the fact recorded in it.

20. Acquisition of Pakistan citizenship by citizens of Commonwealth countries. The

1
[Federal Government] may upon such terms and 3conditions as it may by general or special order
4
specify register a 5[Commonwealth citizen or a British protected person] as a citizen of Pakistan.
21. Penalties. Any person who in order to obtain or prevent the doing of anything under the
Act makes any statement or furnishes any information which is false in any material particular and
which he knows or has reasonable cause to believe to be false, or does not believe to be true, shall be
deemed to have committed an offence punishable under section 177 of the Pakistan Penal Code (Act
XLV of 1860).

22. Interpretation.___ (1) For the purposes of this Act a person born aboard a registered ship
or aircraft, or aboard an unregistered ship or aircraft of the Government of any country shall be
deemed to have been born in the place in which the ship or aircraft was registered or as the case may
be in that country.
(2) Any reference in this Act to the status or description of the father of a person at the time
of that person’s birth shall, in relation to a person born after the death of his father be construed as a
reference to the status or description of the father at the time of the fathers’ death ; and where that
death occurred before, and the birth occurs after the commencement of this Act, the status or
description which would have been applicable to the father had he died after the commencement of
this Act shall be deemed to be the status or description applicable to him at the time of his death.

23.___ (1) The 1[Federal Government] may frame rules6 for carrying into effect the provisions
of this Act.
(2) No rule framed under this Act shall have effect unless published in the Official Gazette.
1
Subs. by the Pakistan Citizenship (Amdt.) Act, 1973 (XLVIII of 1973). s. 3, for “Central Government”.
2
For the order delegating powers to the Director of Immigration and Passports, see S.R.O. No. 1020 (K)/ 61, Gazette of Pakistan, 1961, Pt. I, p. 419.
3
For notification prescribing the conditions for submission of Applications by Commonwealth citizens for acquisition of Pakistan citizenship, see
Gazette of Pakistan, 1960, Ext. p. 379.
4
For such an order, see ibid.
5
Subs. by the Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1952 (V of 1952), s. 9, for citizen of a Commonwealth country”.
6
For the Pakistan Citizenship Rules, 1952, see Gazette of Pakistan, 1952 Ext. pp. 57-90.

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 SCHEDULE

(Form of Oath or Affirmation)

(See section 10)

“I (name) of (address) do hereby swear (or affirm) that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to
the Constitution of Pakistan.”

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